Till Kingdom Come
by Tuna Salad Sonnet
Summary: -ONESHOT DUMP- 3: Kairi has trouble sleeping, and finds sound advice from an unexpected source.
1. Of Roses and Orchids

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Kingdom Hearts _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

**_Rating: _K+** for one violent threat._**  
Genre:**_ Romance, Humour.  
_**Spoilers:**_ KHII - Second visit to Port Royal.  
_**Ships: **_**(Romance) **Axel/Larxene/Marluxia, hints of Roxas/Naminé. **(Friendship)** Naminé&Luxord, Axel&Demyx&Roxas.

* * *

**Of Roses and Orchids**

The paper made a soft sound as Naminé flipped the page. Just as she had expected it, the full page illustration of how rose petals folded over one another (with smaller diagrams in the margins displaying different angles) awaited her eyes.

She pulled her sketchpad closer to her, eyebrows furrowing slightly. The edges of the petals on _her_ rose needed some work.

As she reached for her trusty rubber eraser, a terrible crash sounded from somewhere a floor down. She turned towards the door curiously, and she heard a yelp that sounded rather characteristic of Demyx, another crash, and a couple of shouts.

Naminé leapt to her feet and ran to her door. Opening the door a crack, she peered curiously down the staircase across the hallway from her. Nothing to be _seen, _at least.

Zexion, walking down the hallway with a book in his hand, gazed up at her out of that one blue eye. He stopped just next to her, and peered down the staircase with the same blankness on his face.

More crashes. Then the lights flickered and went out.

Presumably it happened all over the castle, because a second later, when the lights came back on, there were vague, somewhat threatening shouts from all different locations. (Naminé personally swore she heard Vexen shout in some sort of frustration that Nobodies shouldn't have from all the way in the basement.)

The two Nobodies glanced at each other.

"With all the experience I've had in this castle, it's best not to know, Naminé," he said.

She nodded slightly. "Right."

"I'll see you at dinner, I suppose," he said, walking down the staircase, his nose returning to its book.

"Mm. Goodbye Zexion," and she closed her door again.

Naminé returned to where her sketchpad and pencils awaited her. She lay back down on her stomach and started to erase some of her rose's petals.

This went on for all of five minutes before the door slammed open.

Larxene stood in the doorway, completely soaked. Her two blonde bangs, which usually swept up and over her head, were plastered to her face with water.

There was silence between the two female Nobodies, until the elder said, "I swear Naminé, sometimes I think we're the only sane ones."

Naminé got up and ran to one of her cupboards at the foot of her bed as Larxene sat in one of the chairs at the table. The girl ran back and put a towel on the table in the middle of the room. "Demyx?" she asked.

The woman peeled off her gloves. "Him and Roxas."

Naminé raised her eyebrows as way of saying 'And…?'

Larxene sighed, grabbing the towel. "I made a joke about Demyx's hair. And of course Blondie Junior had to go to his defense."

"So the lights going out?"

"Me," Larxene said, unzipping her jacket and starting to squeeze water out of her hair with the towel. "I'm staying here until the Superior or _someone_ drags me out."

It was not a request. Naminé knew the rules. She lay back down in front of her sketchpad and continued to touch up her rough sketches.

This went on for about ten minutes. Larxene, when in a (relatively) good mood, could get surprisingly quiet and pensive. Naminé had only witnessed this odd side of the other woman twice, and both times it had taken place in the library, with the Nymph reading some sort of classic tragedy. Now, she said nothing, only the sound of that strange fabric moving as she removed her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair made Naminé aware of her presence.

The woman was drying off her arms when she started watching the younger girl sketch. Naminé had flipped to another page in her sketchpad, fixing up someone who looked rather a lot like Xigbar, but had left her rose book open to the page on angles and petals and perspective and such. She scooped it up off the ground slowly, so the girl was aware of it.

"'La Belle Rose'," she read the cover. "You haven't let Marluxia see this have you?"

Naminé shook her head. "No," she said.

"Good plan, keep it up," Larxene said, flipping to the table of contents.

The girl furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Nobody told you?" Larxene asked. "Today's Valentine's Day."

"Oh, now I remember. Demyx told me about it yesterday. What does Valentine's Day have to do with Marluxia?"

The woman snorted, looking out of the book with a glare. "He's only been going on and on about Valentine's Day for the past _week_. Yammering about how roses are the most poetic and beautiful of all the flowers and 'entire civilizations have crumbled over men's need to give one to the beautiful princess' and, ugh!" The air crackled slightly as she finished, slamming a fist down on the table.

"Marluxia's been saying this to you?"

"Yeah. He's the master of subtlety, isn't he? Why do you ask?"

Naminé paused before responding. His increasingly creepy attempts to get inside her head were most definitely not something she'd call subtle, she agreed, but there was some motive lurking behind it that she couldn't place. Marluxia had a devious, stealthy way of acting around everyone, she knew, but...

She chewed on her lip. "I just wonder...how Axel would react to that."

Larxene flipped to a page on rose colours and their correlating meanings before reacting herself. "...Axel? Why would you wonder about Axel?"

Naminé's danger meter rose a couple of levels. She shrugged slowly, flipping the pages of her sketchpad to a rough of Luxord playing cards. "Some of the other members have told me that the two of you used to be friends before Roxas and I came along."

"Right. Friends. Nothing more." The woman replied in a clipped voice.

"Well, what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why aren't you friends _any more?_"

The Nymph glared. "_I don't know,_" she said with finality.

They maintained eye contact, Naminé trying to keep a completely straight face under that green-blue glare.

They broke and went back to what they were doing. Larxene flipped a page and Naminé's pencil scratched away.

After a thoughtful silence, Larxene said, mostly to herself, "A man gave my Other a rose for Valentine's Day once. ...Orchids are better."

"Orchids?" Naminé prodded.

The woman nodded, eyes closed as though in a deep sleep, sleep that Naminé knew sometimes brought memories back in dreams. (The exception being her, of course. But she was excepted from a lot of things.)

Naminé glanced down at her sketchpad. "Love is a scary thing…isn't it Larxene?"

The woman opened her eyes. "Hmm, that's an unexpected statement coming from you, Naminé."

The girl blinked up at her elder. "How do you mean?"

"Well," Larxene brought a finger to her lips, tapping them in thought, "I'd have thought Demyx had taught you that love is this perfect little solution to everything, but someone else has to got to you first. Xaldin? Vexen? Saïx, maybe?"

"Axel, actually," Naminé replied.

A look of surprise came over the woman's face. "Axel."

"He said that love is scary because you have to trust the other person with _everything._ 'People who fall in love are so vulnerable. So open to attack,' he said."

The Nymph paused. "Surprisingly wise words, coming from Axel."

Naminé started to wave her feet back in forth in the air, as she scratched absently at her Luxord sketch. "Makes me wonder if he's ever been in love."

Larxene took this sentence in, then scrutinized the young teenager lying in front of her. Her eyes scanned from Naminé's unreadable face underneath her bangs, to the sketch she was working on. She smiled a (surprisingly) genuine smile. "Na-mi-né," she said, in quiet awe. "How many times has Luxord visited you this week?"

The girl raised her eyes, looking the teensiest bit guilty. "Just the once. A couple days ago. Why?"

Larxene grinned that vicious grin and leaned forward. "He's been teaching you how to play all his little mind-tricks, hasn't he? You're leading me into some sort of game here, I can tell."

Naminé smiled a little. "Did it work?"

The woman sighed. "Like hell it did. I must be getting soft if I'm falling into _your_ traps. I'll have to tell him his little apprentice is doing just fine."

The smile on the girl's face widened, and Larxene could swear that this was the part where she was supposed to feel some sort of weird sisterly affection. Or something.

For once, Larxene was almost glad she didn't have a heart.

As she had been pondering this, Naminé had gone off to another one of her cupboards and returned with something long and thin in her hands.

The older woman blinked at it. "Where did you get that?"

Naminé smiled nervously. "I made it," she said.

Larxene guessed the little memory witch had made the stem out of paper maché and garden wire. (Whoever was brave enough to steal from Marluxia's shed for her was a brave soul indeed.) The top was made of red paper, no doubt folded following the instructions of that origami book Zexion had given to her last month.

A red rose.

"The challenge?"

Naminé handed over her creation gently, obviously cherishing it as much as her sketchpad. (_How sweet;_ the Nymph suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.) "Give this to either Marluxia or Axel before the end of the day."

"And if I don't?"

Naminé shrugged. "Being in love is scary, right? If you back out, wouldn't that be kinda cowardly?"

"Heh," Larxene smirked, crossing her legs. "Sorry Naminé, but I can't be in love. None of us can. No hearts, remember?"

"You're right," said the memory witch. "But you like to try the unexpected right? Lexaeus told me that you're always the first to test a new battle tactic, right up there with _Saïx._ He said you'd be a good scientist."

"Ha! Me, a scientist?" The Nymph chuckled. "But, you are right. How I _do_ like to try new things..."

She twirled the rose in her hand. "Choose between my nature-loving friend and my annoying cohort before the end of the day, or lose my fearless reputation to your fellow babysitters. Yes, Luxord's definitely gotten into your head somehow. …Only one question."

The girl nodded slightly. "Yes?"

"Why _Axel?_"

Naminé shrugged, but Larxene took it to mean, 'Isn't it obvious?' Aloud, she said, "The two of you... banter."

"Banter? That's the reason?" The woman scoffed. "Zexion and Vexen banter about _experiments_ all day. And I don't see you giving either of _them_ roses."

The girl cocked her head slightly in thought before replying. "I know, but there's always something between you two when I've seen you talk. I can feel it...like...on my skin."

The Nymph smirked and ran a hand over one of her bangs. "It's called static electricity, Naminé. Have you forgotten my element?"

The girl smiled back readily. "Luxord calls it 'sparks'."

x

She did not know why she was here.

Larxene stood in the hallway just outside one of the castle's various sitting rooms. She watched as Demyx swiveled in an armchair, conversing with Roxas and Axel, who preferred to stay on the stationary couch. The sound of occasional sitar notes strayed into their conversation as the musician saw fit.

They way she saw it, this was the lesser of two evils. Giving a rose to Marluxia would practically be giving him permission to go on about the absolute perfection of roses forever. Axel would get bored of teasing her about it after a couple of weeks. She loved that crazy scheming gardener, but he could get a little wrapped up in his flowers.

Wait. Not 'loved'. 'Felt companionship for?' No, she couldn't feel anything at all.

Hmm. She gazed back out at the three Nobodies. It was... hard to believe they weren't friends. Not really. Not without hearts. Ah, well. There was time to ponder that later.

"Well, if it isn't the 'usual suspects'," she said as she came forward.

They all froze immediately. Demyx looked up at her and sank deep into his chair. Roxas had the nerve to glare at her slightly. Axel had that constant smirk pasted on his face.

"Hey, Larxene," he greeted, waving slightly. "Happy Valentine's Day."

She rolled her eyes in reply and said, "Alright, let's get this over with as soon as possible. I need to give one of you something."

Demyx raised his hand like a timid child in a classroom. "Larxene?"

"Yes, Demyx."

"It's not for me, is it?"

"No, Demyx."

"Then can I leave?"

There was a silence.

"What do you _think-_"

"I'm gone!" The musician got up from the armchair and ran out of the den, sitar in hand.

As the coattails of Number IX disappeared down the hall, the three remaining Nobodies turned back to one another.

"So... it's definitely for me or Roxas," Axel said.

"Brilliant, aren't you?" Larxene replied.

"It's not deadly, is it?" The youngest Nobody asked. "It feels like I've gotten hundreds of death traps from you, Larxene."

"I lure because I care, squirt. You'll face a hell of a lot more dangerous things out in the field. Like…Behemoths for instance."

"Behemoths?" The boy turned to his 'friend' on the couch beside him. "What's a Behemoth?"

"Wellll," Axel stroked his chin. "Imagine a giant purple unicorn."

"With tusks," Larxene added.

"Ah, yes. With tusks," Axel agreed.

"With tusks?" Roxas asked.

"Yes, but all of this is beside the point," the woman brought the conversation back to the task at hand. "I need to give you something."

"Right then," the red head agreed and the boy leaned forward in curiosity.

Larxene continued to stare at that eternally smirking face with those tiny little markings underneath his eyes. Diamonds? Teardrops? Nobody knew, nobody asked. It was an unspoken rule that talk of Others was strictly forbidden. Maybe it had nothing to do with Somebodies and was something belonging only to Axel.

She doubted it.

He blinked at her, smiled more widely, and it was if she caught her reflection in those _stupid_ green eyes of his. She had been giving _something_ away to him during that little train of thought, and he had caught it. Luckily, Roxas hadn't noticed and…

Roxas.

If she got him involved in Naminé's little challenge, _she_ would be automatically silenced into submission. Even if she lost this challenge, Naminé wouldn't be allowed to say anything because it involved _Roxas and that simply wouldn't do._ Their connection was _dangerous_, or so Xemnas claimed.

"It's for you," she finally said, summoning the rose in her hand as simply as she did her kunai. She held it in front of Roxas's completely shocked face. "It's from someone else."

"S-someone else?" The boy _stuttered_ for once, reaching out and taking it. Something in those blue eyes softened as he looked at it.

"Yup. I'm just a messenger."

The boy continued to observe the rose, made of wire and paper. Axel leaned forward. "No messages for me, I suppose?"

"Nope. Ta, boys. Don't forget to fetch your water boy back." And she turned to leave.

The Savage Nymph was victorious for another day. And she thought Naminé's challenge had actually been interesting, been different. Ha! How utterly foolish of her. How-

"Larxene."

She turned. Axel standing at the end of the hallway.

"What? I delivered my message, didn't I?"

"You know we're forbidden to tell Roxas about Naminé," he said as he approached.

"Forbidden?" She grinned up at him. "Since when has 'forbidden' been an obstacle for me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Point taken." He paused, then said, "That rose was for me, wasn't it?"

Her grin immediately soured into a pout with furrowed eyebrows. "What makes you say that?"

It was his turn to grin. "I just know these things Larxene."

She huffed and started to stalk off down the hall. _Click-clack-click-clack…_

"I was surprised though," he called after her, in a thoughtful voice. "I would've expected an orchid."

The sound of her heels immediately halted. She turned and looked at him slowly over her shoulder.

"What?" she said, near whisper.

"Orchids. They're better than roses," he replied, as though he was stating the supremely obvious.

"Who told you that?" she asked, immediately thinking of ways she could punish Naminé without getting in trouble herself.

Axel raised his hands in a yielding gesture. "No one. To tell you the truth," he scratched at the back of his neck, "it just came to me. Just now."

There was a pause.

"Huh," the woman said. "Interesting."

"Yeah," he nodded. He blinked up as he heard her summon a portal in the wall. "Where are you going?"

She paused, one hand pressed against the cold white wall. "Why do you care?"

He walked up and wrenched her away from the wall and the waiting portal. "Don't say that."

She tried to shrug off the hand on her shoulder. "Why shouldn't I?"

"Just don't say it, Twelve, you hear me?" he said, and what might've been anger hissed in his voice.

She slapped him across the face. The sound resounded in the small hallway and electricity crackled from her hand. Axel, instead of backing down, started pulling her into his arms. She struggled and the Flurry flinched in pain as more bolts of electricity shocked him.

"Don't you ever call me Twelve, Axel!" she shouted. "I'm Larxene to you! I'm not just some-"

"I know," he said. She was now trapped against him, her arms folded against his chest, his wrapped securely around her waist. She could easily get away, but those _stupid_ green eyes of his were watching her every move.

The portal, unattended to, faded. "You know what?" she asked.

"I know you're not just some number. Sorry."

He looked...surprisingly honest. Honesty; that wasn't an emotion, was it? It was hard to think when you're so close you can feel someone's breath and…

_Snappy comeback, Larxene. Get on it._

"Yeah, well. Next time you slip up like that, I'll use your body for target practice. Your lungs are the bull's-eyes, got it?"

"Memorized."

"...What?"

He smirked down on her. "I got it memorized."

She sighed. "You know, that catchphrase is getting _increasingly wearing._"

"Is it?" he asked, and closed the final distance.

Either it was in their heads or Vexen had conveniently set off another ground-shaking experiment. But either way, somewhere, _something_ exploded into torches and thunderstorms and rain and candles and masks and alleyways and castles and dark summer nights and memories that should never, _ever,_ be remembered.

When they pulled back for air, Larxene was shaking like she never had before and Axel felt like he should never open his arms and let this Nymph get away from him again. But that was odd, because there never was a 'first' until now, so how could there be an 'again'?

Somehow, he managed to unclench his arms and she was no longer trapped against him. They stood watching each other shake and gasp for breath, mostly in fear, but maybe in the joy of discovery.

"H-Happy Valentine's Day Larxene."

She backed up against the wall, never taking her eyes off him. "Happy Valentine's Day, Axel." A portal opened up and she almost _fell_ back into it, glad to get away from him.

The redhead sighed. As if this 'existence' wasn't complicated enough.

"Axel!"

The man turned to a very frustrated Roxas standing in the doorway. "I have been pacing for five minutes straight, and the only logical explanation I can come up with for _this,_" he brandished the paper rose as though it was one of his keyblades, "is that _somebody I don't know about made it._ You're keeping something from me, aren't you? The whole Organization is!"

Axel straightened. Roxas let his hand and the rose fall back to his side, prepared for whatever mysterious answer awaited him.

"That was only five minutes?"

x

"Wellll," Larxene stretched her arms up above her head as she entered the memory witch's room, "looks like I'm babysitting you tonight, little girl."

"You cheated yesterday," Naminé replied, from her seat at the table. She was scratching at her sketchpad unenthusiastically.

The woman blinked. "Oh yes," she said, putting her hand to her chin and looking at the ceiling, "your little Valentine's challenge. I don't think of it as 'cheating' so much as I changed the rules."

"You were supposed to give it to Axel or Marluxia!" the girl said, looking up from her sketch. "Now the Superior is wondering if I'm trying to break out and see _him!_"

"Roxas?" The woman teased. "Your little knight in black leather armor?" She mimed the actions of a keyblade wielder. "The Hero of Twin Keyblades, come to rescue the White Princess from her ivory tower! Ha!"

Naminé's face burned red. "Well, what about you?" she asked, standing up.

"What _about_ me?" Larxene replied, beaming.

"I was going to give you _this_ when you completed the challenge," she said, removing a _red orchid_ from the vase in the middle of the table, "but I-"

The woman snatched it out of her hand. "Where did you get this?"

Naminé flinched, and she was immediately brought her back into her good old 'shy mode'. "Axel brought it in here. I think he was going to give it to you, but-"

Larxene raised an eyebrow.

"...I'll be back in a minute." She turned on her heel and strolled through a portal in the wall, orchid in hand.

As soon as she was gone, the young teenager ran back to the sketchpad waiting for her on the table. She picked up the pencil and added a little line beside her name.

Naminé, one. Opponent, zero.

She added one final touch to the scoreboard's constant companion.

The sketchy Luxord smirked up at her.

* * *

**AN.** Not really a Valentine's fic, seeing as I'm writing this in April/May. This was originally a much longer fic called "Yellow Roses". It took place over the week leading up to Valentine's Day, but it was way too long and not nearly Larxel enough.

Concrit is highly encouraged, seeing as this is my first ever venture into the scary, scary world of Kingdom Hearts fanfiction. :)


	2. I Wrote You a Symphony

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Kingdom Hearts _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

**_Rating:_ K+ **for death.  
_**Genre:**_ Romance, Angst. If Fluff were a genre there'd be some in there too._**  
Spoilers: **_KHII - Second visit to Beast's Castle.  
_**Ships:**_** (Romance) **Demyx/Yuffie. Mentions of one-sided Yuffie/Leon.

* * *

**I Wrote You a Symphony**

See Demyx. See Demyx patrol Hollow Bastion. Patrol, Demyx, patrol!

See Demyx see Yuffie. See Demyx fall for Yuffie beyond all logic. Fall, Demyx, fall!

See Demyx follow Yuffie around, trying to impress her and show her he's not out to steal her heart. Try, Dem-

Wait, what?

Oh, sh-

-x-

See Yuffie. See Yuffie going about regular reconstruction business. Build, Yuffie, build!

See Yuffie see Demyx. See Yuffie get practically stalked by Demyx. Freak out, Yuffie, freak out!

See Yuffie kind-of-sort-of-not-really-okay-maybe-_really_ think he's cute.

Wait, what?

Oh, _damn it._

-x-

"Alright, _you._"

"...Yeah?"

"I like you."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I like _you_."

"Well, this is great, let's go do something!"

"Okay!"

-x-

They sit on her window seat late one night, looking at each other with their backs leaning against the walls.

He rocks slightly against the sitar he cradles against his chest. "...You know we can't really go anywhere together, right?"

She tilts her head slightly. It's late and she doesn't feel much like thinking. "Why not?" she asks.

"Well, if your friends find out you're hanging out with a Nobody-"

"Then I'll get in trouble... And if the Organization finds out you didn't steal a heart when you could've-"

"_I'll_ get in trouble."

They sigh and stare at the worn cushion they're sitting on. "And you know, I can't really buy you anything, either. The Superior or Xigbar would get suspicious."

She shakes her head hastily. "I don't care about that. To tell you the truth, I care more about those two names."

He picks at some yellow foam that's leaking from a tear. "You know I can't tell you that," he mumbles.

She bites her lower lip slightly. Oops. She forgot Demyx was still ferociously loyal to _them;_ it's so late.

"And you know, I can't-"

"Demyx," she said. "I don't _care_ about what you can't do for me." She yawned and poked his leg with her toe. "Get yourself a heart, but other than that, don't ever change."

He stops rocking and leans back on the wall. He stares down at his sitar in the meager light the streetlamps outside give off. "I _can_ sing you a song, if that's okay?"

She smiles and settles into her seat. "A lullaby would be nice."

"Um...not sure if a sitar is the instrument for a lullaby, but I'll try..."

-x-

That night after he sang her the lullaby (_her_ lullaby), Demyx didn't come back. Three weeks went by and he never showed up.

And she can't help but remember how he had described her in his song. How he had painted her movements, her hair, her eyes, her fingers, her laugh, her thoughts, her feelings in those shapes and colours that move behind your eyelids when you try to fall asleep. And she remembered thinking _I can't believe it, he really loves me; I don't _care_ if he doesn't have a heart_ before his song overpowered her and she fell asleep.

She sits and waits and sits and remembers on that window seat until she can't take it anymore and flings open the latches and feels the wind on her face. She jumps down onto the street and runs (tripping) through the streets, screaming his name in her head (because if she were to shout, someone would wake up and she'd be in trouble).

It's in the Bailey that her hammering heart start to make the shadows clump together and raise up from the ground and gain thoughtless yellow eyes.

She didn't bring her shuriken.

She runs all the way to the Ravine Trail before her legs collapse from exhaustion. So this is the end of the Great Ninja Yuffie.

Until the geysers cut across the plateau and clear everything away.

"Yuffie?" a voice echoes from the shadows.

She gets up and stumbles over her own feet into the Crystal Fissure and into his arms before even bothering to check if it's him.

"Where the hell have you been?" she asks, and is surprised to find that she's been crying.

"I..." He can't look at her. "It's getting complicated. One of the members left and - Yuffie, it's going to get really dangerous for you if I keep coming back."

She wraps her arms around black leather and buries her head in his scent of mist and sand. "Please don't leave again."

She wished he wouldn't hesitate before hugging her back. "I won't."

-x-

She leaps across the gap of open air onto the next rooftop. She turns back as he watches her hesitantly. "Hey, aren't you coming?"

He nods, still nervous. He backs up and takes a running start, but jumps over the alleyway and onto her rooftop just as easily as she did. She laughs at how much he underestimates himself; he's one of _them_, after all.

"Are you sure this is okay?" he says. "Aren't we going to wake up the people in these houses?"

She scoffs at him and starts cross to the other side of the roof. "'Course it's okay. Leon and Cloud and Tifa did this all the time when they were little. And what, do you think people sleep in their attics?"

He jogs to catch up and they walk side by side under the stars. He isn't much taller than her, and Yuffie wonders how age works when you're a Nobody.

She stops and tilts her head up to the pinpricks of light. He turns and looks from her to the sky and back.

"Demyx, is it dangerous, being a Nobody?" she asks.

He thinks. "I guess so. I mean, I hate fighting _anyone._ But Vexen said that we were all born with the instinct for a reason. He said that humans can go their whole lives and never have to throw a punch."

"...But Nobodies have to fight. For their hearts." She finishes, and looks at him.

He gulps and nods. "I guess so. Never really thought about it."

She smiles and rubs her nose. "I don't usually think about this stuff either. Maybe 'cause you mean so much to me."

He blinks and in the darkness she wonders if he's blushing. "I... huh?"

She puts her hands behind her back and walks up to him, slowly. "You know, technically, you're heartless, but you're still one of the sweetest guys I've ever met? I just really wanted you to know."

He hesitates (she _really_ wished he would stop doing that). "'Kay."

"And another thing, since we're on the topic. If being a Nobody is really that dangerous, get yourself a heart real soon. But be _careful_ about it, okay? I don't want you getting beat up. 'Cause I really look forward to your visits, you know? And I mean that."

He can't help but notice how close she's getting. "...'Kay."

"Ooh, and another thing," she says, and she's right next to him and her heart is straining so hard against her ribs that it's enough for the both of them.

She stood on her tiptoes and-

Chickened out and gave him an Eskimo kiss. "I never did thank you for saving me that night, did I?"

She runs away, trying to laugh out the butterflies in her stomach. She leaps onto the next rooftop and he starts sprinting to catch up.

"...You're welcome," he whispers to her echoing laughter.

-x-

"Hey, Xigbar?"

The older Nobody turns to look over the back of the couch and catches number IX come in, drenched to the bone in water.

"Uh... Hey, kiddo. What's up?"

Demyx's boots squeak as he sloshes across the room. "I've been thinking..."

"A dangerous pastime."

"I know," the younger smiles slightly, before commanding the water to lift off his skin and clothes and evaporate into the air. He sinks into the couch opposite Xigbar, frowning again. "Especially in the rain, right?"

The man shrugs. Lightning flashes through the windows, as if on cue. "You'll survive. So are you gonna tell me the deal behind your long face or not?"

"Well, how do I put this...?" Demyx leans forward, his elbows on his knees. "You've been patrolling the Land of Dragons right?"

Xigbar nods. "Recently, yeah."

"You know that girl who saved the Emperor? Fa Mulan?"

"Yeah."

"What if you saw her getting attacked by Heartless, and you knew she would lose? I mean, she's a good person, right? And she sort of guards that World from the Darkness, and if _she_ got taken out, wouldn't the whole World follow?"

Xigbar stares at the ceiling in thought. "Hmm... That's a toughie."

After a thoughtful pause he continued, "Well, as fun as it is to be a bad guy, I guess I'd save her. Sora's providing us with enough hearts anyway. Why let a whole World die?"

"So... it's alright to save good people?"

"I say, 'why not?'" Xigbar scratched his chin. "Just uh, don't go spreading it around that I'm giving you anti-hero advice."

Demyx furrowed his eyebrows, and for a second Xigbar wondered if he was going to ask what an anti-hero was. Then he got up and summoned a portal in the wall, his boots still squeaking slightly.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Xigbar demanded.

"The Gummi hangar," Demyx replied before he could think of less suspicious place.

"_Why?_"

"Because I... have to..." he pointed wildly through the windows across the room. "Look! A rip in the space-time continuum!"

Xigbar wheeled, single gold scanning the storm outside as the other Nobody warped away. He looked back to a blank wall.

"Ah..._Odin, damn it._ Knew I shouldn't have told him about that."

--

"Yuffie!" He runs over the tiles to where she sits atop the weapon shop, her back leaning against one of the strange metal chimneys.

She whips her head around, looking panicked. She jumps over onto his roof and meets him halfway. "I told you running across the roof was okay, but I didn't say shouting was! What if somebody hears you?"

He grabs her shoulders and shakes her a little. "Yuffie, I just realized that... that I'm not going to let the Darkness take you."

"The Darkness-?"

"The Heartless, whatever, it's all the same." He grins wildly down at her, eyes shining. "I'm going to get my heart back. Somehow. And I'm going to do it for you."

She brushes his hands off her shoulders. "Don't do it for _me,_ you silly goose. Do it for _you_." She pokes his empty chest cavity sharply. It sends a shock through him like a defibrillator.

He laughs and grabs her hand. She nearly starts to struggle under his intense stare. "Did you just say 'silly goose?'"

She smiles, uneasy now. "So what if I did?"

His grin falters and he leans back, staring at his boots. _Overreacting again, Demyx_, he reminds himself. "I just mean..." He smiles. "I need to get a heart so I can give mine back to you."

She thinks about slipping her arm out of his suddenly strong grip (_Fighting instinct,_ he had said), but instead grabs his hand. "What do you mean?"

He looks down at the tiled roof, lips pulling back to reveal white caps. It makes him look almost ghostly in the threadbare moonlight. "There's a place called Valentine's Town. Not that far from here. And they have all these little heart shaped candies with little words written on them. And I always remember the time I got this one with 'I'll give you my heart' written on it."

"Huh," Yuffie said. "How big are these candies? 'Cause that's a lot to fit on one little-"

"In Valentine's Town? Those things can get as big as a baseball if you look hard enough.

"But that's not my point. Yuffie," he took both of her hands in his, "there was this one night after you fell asleep. ...You were dreaming, and you said you loved me."

The Great Ninja Yuffie stared. Then gritted her teeth. Then stared at her shoes. She started to blush. "...Ramuh, smite me where I stand."

Demyx laughed.

"Just one little lightning bolt?" she pleaded.

"Yuffie-"

Thunder rumbled.

The couple looked up to the sky, where clouds were rolling in as though Xaldin himself were chasing them.

"You've got to be kidding," Demyx said.

Lightning flashed within the storm front, as if to reply.

"We'd better get down from here. With all this metal stuff on the roof," Yuffie said, dragging him to the edge of the roof.

They both jumped and landed easily on the pavement, rain coming down in huge dollops. The air started to gain that odd summery smell of pavement and grass as the two dove behind the counter at the bottom of the weapon shop.

They watched as the rain poured down in silence, lightning flashing white and turning night into day for fragments of seconds.

"Demyx?"

"Yeah?"

They turn to one another, slowly, like dancing wind-up toys having their crank turned. Hesitant for the first time in her life, she cups his cheeks in both of her hands.

She imagines briefly about what this would be like if this was Leon she was holding. She used to do that all the time, dream dreams about Leon. The dream-Leon never shook, and Demyx doesn't now.

Dream-Leon never shook because he was brave. He's not afraid of Yuffie, not nervous.

Demyx _wants_ to be afraid of Yuffie. Wants the heartbeats to shake his ribcage, wants to quiver under her damp fingers. But he _can't._

She stands on her tiptoes again-

And kisses him.

If he was ensnared before, (he wraps his arms around her shaking shoulders and lets her warmth seep through the leather) the trap has gone off now.

Thunder rips through the air.

-x-

It's quiet now.

His boots echo, though he's not sure what the sound waves bounce off of. There's nothing here. Just whiteness.

Sometimes, as he stumbles, he sees images moving, projected onto the blankness from a flickering camera hidden somewhere. The film is moving too slowly, he thinks. The pictures don't flow together as smoothly as they should.

A grainy song begins, like maybe it's playing on the antique radio the scientists kept in their basement lab. It's a requiem, crescendoing until it presses on his eardrums, strains them until he worries he'll go deaf. It's horrifically depressing, this song. Filled with sour sitar notes (he wonders where his is) and a discord of badly tuned trumpets and trombones and who knows what else. It hurts so much to listen...

He blinks back the mist in his eyes and concentrates on walking. Through the pain in his head he catches a glimpse of her in one of the scenes. He watches it.

She smiles. She cries. She sleeps. She jumps. She runs.

He starts to run, too. "Yuffie..."

The film is always projected just in front of him. He can't reach it.

He chases. "Wait up!"

He keeps on going. Suddenly, there is a sound like a record scratching. The sitar notes straighten, the brass instruments tune themselves. He's leading some sort of amazing waltz. And it's just the right volume.

He can't stop smiling. Even when he sees the door.

Don't let this end. Hit the repeat button.

The door opens, and he chases her into it.

_I love this song._

-x-

"So," Larxene takes a bite out of her cupcake and leans on the Silent Hero's shoulder. "What exactly is he doing?"

She refers to Demyx, of course. At this point he had been swaying up in the branches of their front-yard tree for at least two minutes, singing along to music that had started playing in the air. That was the Elysium Fields for you, though.

"I believe we determined it to be a 'musical interlude'," Lexaeus replied.

"Ah, no. There he goes again," the blonde said, motioning briefly as Demyx resumed his song.

"This is very odd," The scientist pondered. "It's as though he's singing in reply to someone else singing. Very far away."

"A girl, obviously." Larxene peeled off the wrapper of the desert to get to the stump. "Who'd have thought the dork could hold down a girlfriend?"

This takes Lexaeus off guard. "A girl? What makes you say that?"

"Have you been listening to the lyrics?"

As the former number V listened, he realized that the Nobody up in the tree could _only_ be singing about a girl he missed. It was all about trying to find her, and how the distance was driving him into desperation.

Or something like that.

"Hmm. 'Who would've thought' indeed."

They continued to look on as Demyx swung up in the branches, sitting in the sky.

But only he could see the stars rearrange. See the constellation of the girl singing back to him across the impossible chasm of life and death.

* * *

**AN. **I'm not going to lie. I started shipping these two solely because of fandom. I'm not going back! :D

Just in case you've never played the Final Fantasy games (I haven't until this summer!) Odin and Ramuh are summons. Ramuh is, obviously, a thunder element.

Concrit is made of win!


	3. Dreamcatcher

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Kingdom Hearts _or any related characters. This was written out of enjoyment of the series, and no profit is being made.

_**Rating:**_ **G.**  
_**Genre:**_ Friendship  
_**Spoilers:**_ KHII - The World That Never Was, Hall of Empty Melodies  
_**Ships:**_ **(Friendship)** Cloud&Kairi

* * *

**Dreamcatcher**

Maleficent's siege on Hollow Bastion (_Radiant Garden_, she corrected herself. _You used to live here, it's not that difficult!_) pushed itself into its third week as a clock struck midnight somewhere in the town. Kairi walked through the empty streets, soft blue where the cobblestones glew in the night. A couple of others walked back with her towards Merlin's house, their patrol shift done. Alice watched, enthralled, as Kairi snapped a new Keychain on to her Athena so it reversed to the default Destiny's Light. They met each other's eyes and giggled tiredly.

They came into Merlin's small courtyard, and Kairi was about to unlock the door when a second group arrived down the other path, from the Bailey. Cloud Strife carried his gigantic sword at his side, followed by Hercules and Daisy Duck. "We're expecting more," was all he said.

Kairi nodded silently, pointing the tip of the Keyblade at the lock on the door. It clicked quietly, and the five very different people walked inside.

---

She kept the door of her guest room wide open so she could hear the rest of them moving around. Donald's nephews had discovered some invention of Merlin's that they weren't supposed to, and just about everyone was trying to track them down before something magical and gooey stained the walls.

She however, sat at the end of her bed, staring out the window and reminding herself to finish her tea. She was distracted when one of the triplets (she still felt bad that she couldn't tell them apart) ran by, followed by Yuffie. Cloud appeared just outside the doorway, watching them run deeper into the house. He didn't look like he felt like running through such a cramped space tonight.

He must've felt her eyes regarding him curiously. He turned, and regarded her in what she supposed was the same way. "…Hey," he greeted cautiously.

"Hello," she said, smiling. No point in not being welcoming.

He leaned on the door frame hesitantly, looking for some reason not to chase a duckling around the house. "You should get some sleep."

Somewhere in the house (Kairi thought it was in the direction Yuffie had gone off in), there was the sound of something splattering. There were some clatters and panicked murmurs. "I've been trying," the girl winced as Merlin gave a flustered cry downstairs.

"Hm. I see what you mean."

_That wasn't exactly what I meant,_ she thought, looking thoughtfully down at her cup of tea. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Alright, that was the wrong thing to say. Cloud looked like he was trying to figure out the quickest retreat without being outright rude. "It's nothing big!" she said, trying to reassure him. "Just something I can't tell Riku and Sora. They'd get all protective of me.

"Well, not that you wouldn't get protective, but… It just seems like you'd worry less."

The man deliberated on this. Kairi was a lot less delicate than her two friends seemed to think she was, so whatever was on her mind probably wasn't a big deal. "Sure. Go ahead," he finally said.

"When I said I've been trying to sleep, I mean… I haven't been able to sleep for the past few days. I'm starting to worry that I might, you know, have insomnia. Or something." It was more comfortable for the girl to talk to her teacup at this point.

Cloud walked into the room then, the floorboards creaking under his black boots. "Have you told Merlin?"

Confession passed, Kairi shook her head and looked up. "I have a feeling he'd try and get me to take a potion. I don't need a potion. Not yet, anyway." She tilted her head towards the bed. "You can sit, if you want."

He thought of refusing, saying he'd rather stand, but he had been on his feet all day. He nodded slightly, and sat on the bed, near the pillow, letting her have her space. They both winced as something else downstairs broke. Yuffie's laugh drifted up to them.

"I don't suppose you have any advice, do you? About how I could get back to sleep?" she asked.

"Advice…?" he repeated softly. Hmm. When he and Leon and the others had lost Hollow Bastion all those years ago, they had all had trouble sleeping. Aeris had only needed to curl into his side to get back to sleep. Tifa spent the whole day helping Cid so she could collapse into exhaustion when the sun went down. Yuffie stayed up all night, and he couldn't remember what Leon (or was he still Squall back then?) had done. And Cloud? Well…

"I counted," he said.

Kairi tilted her head again, curious. "As in, counting sheep?"

He smiled and the girl couldn't _not_ blink in surprise. "Memories," he corrected, leaning his chin on his knuckles. "Every night I thought about something that made life worth living, starting with what had happened that day. Then I'd go back to yesterday. And the day before that."

Silence spread into the room as the clouds moved across the sky and moonlight slanted in through the window. It made Cloud's hair look like pale blue gold. "Did you ever have to go back to the very beginning?" she asked quietly.

"Some nights," he replied.

They sat like that for a while as Kairi finished her tea. When her cup emptied and only leaves remained, she lay down on the bed, and started remembering.

---

Hours past and Cloud didn't move, sitting on guard with his back to her.

"Cloud?" Her voice was thick with sleepiness.

"Yeah?"

"Is there such a word as 'chocobo'?"

He blinked, turning his head so he could see behind his shoulder. She was barely awake. "Yeah. They were big birds that used to live around here. Haven't seen any since the Darkness…" He drifted off. She already knew.

She yawned. "Alright. I was just… looking at your hair from this angle…" Another yawn. "And the word came into my head."

Her eyelids drifted shut and his lips quirked again. "'Night, Kairi."


End file.
